ALLAHABAD: In order to shield the Central Government and the Congress
Party that are neck deep in corruption and also to corner the Muslim
votes, the Congress general secretary Sri Digvijay Singh has off late
been, as a measure of diversionary tactics, blindly and falsely
targeting the Hindu organizations and Sadhu-Sants. The 2-G spectrum
scam causing a loss to the national exchequer an amount of Rs. 176,000
crores, the ISRO scam causing a loss of 200,000 crores and the CWG
scam are now the hot topics of discussion in all nooks and corners of
the country. This Government is not willing to disclose the names of
those that have stacked away huge black money in the Swiss Bank. This
issue has been hanging fire for many years now. The people of India
shall ensure that the Congress Government comes clean on the issue of
all black money. Digvijay Singh has recently commented on Baba
Ramdevji. The contributions that Baba Ramdevji has made towards the
causes of globalization of the Patanjali Yoga system and the Ayurvedic
system of medicine makes not only India but the entire world thankful
to him.

Wildly attributing black money to the contributions in cash and kind
made by the people of the country for running the spiritual and
service activities by our Sadhu-Sants, Sri Digvijay Singh can neither
save the dwindling image of the Congress nor can he ensure deliverance
for it. Pointing fingers at the government machinery in the matter of
the Batala House terrorist incident, visiting and encouraging people
at Sanjarpur in Azamgarh that were involved in terrorist activities,
making Pakistan happy by misleading the Indian nation about the 26/11
Mumbai terrorist act and unwittingly making a mockery of Sri Hemant
Karkare’s martyrdom by trying to misquote the latter, are a few of his
perverted actions that give the impression that he is playing to the
galleries of Pakistanis and other foreign forces.

Regarding the Godhra episode, I have to say that the Court of Law has
clearly accepted it that it was the result of a big conspiracy that
was meticulously carried out. But even then how could the kingpins of
the conspiring circle get release orders – it is now a topic of
discussion in the whole country. Truly speaking, in order that all
such attacks on the Hindu society do never recur in future, it is
necessary that all the convicts be hanged to death. The Congress
spokesperson Digvijay Singh has been promoting the activities of
Jihadis, and the country must beware of him. The Hindu society would
give fitting reply to any humiliation heaped on the Sant fraternity.

There is a Biblical parable about a vineyard owner who hires workers throughout the day, but pays them equal wages at sunset. “Are you envious because I am generous?” he asks those who protested. The apologue was revisited last week when Supreme Court Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Ganguly criticised the UPA’s attempts at personal law reform not going beyond Hindus. “The Hindu community has been tolerant to these statutory interventions. But there appears a lack of secular commitment as it has not happened for other religions,” they remarked.True, Hindus have a historic reputation for national passivity, having endured religious persecution for centuries. Thousands died in Somnath and Kasi in the 11th century; hundreds of Rajput women immolated themselves to avoid rape by invaders; Babur killed millions and Aurangazeb walled thousands up in the name of God. Ancient history, indeed and irrelevant to modern India — except that major Delhi roads are named after these despots.Perhaps, the political architects of modern India quixotically assumed that, by doing this, Muslims would be reassured of their place in Indian history, thereby perversely identifying Islamic interests with Babur’s and Aurangazeb’s. The Congress has always been obsessed with the Muslim vote; as far back as in 1946, it realized that the Muslim League — its traditional communal opposition — was a fast-growing beanstalk: while in the 1937 provincial elections, the League got only 108 out of 485 Muslim seats, it secured 76 per cent of the total Muslim vote in 1946-47. Meanwhile, Hindu politics began to appropriate the Indian women’s rights debate — the Arya Samaj, which according to historian Percival Spear, “led it towards intolerance towards both Muslims and Christians”— resulting in the right wing parties becoming champions of a Uniform Civil Code. The Hindu right replaced the Muslim League as the traditional political enemy of the Congress.To perpetuate its dominance, it was important for the Congress to entrench itself in the Muslim mass mind. The majority of Indian Muslims live below the poverty line and are uneducated while Muslim leadership is dominated by maulvis. The covert communal politics of the Congress resulted in the petrifaction of medieval Muslim machismo, which considers women inferior — fitna — or a ‘potential disorder’ to the stability of a society, and hence mandates them to be kept in seclusion. It wasn’t so always; in 1916, an Education report commented that, “the percentages for the Mohammedan community were more favourable than that for all communities together, and even figures for Mohammedan girls alone did not fall below the figures for all classes for female pupils.” Today, urban Muslim female graduates are a minority, (0.8 per cent, against 4.2 per cent of Hindu women and 5.5 per cent of Christian women). Until the concept of minority is re-evaluated in India, the Indian Muslim — especially the women — will live in distrust; disadvantaged, uncompetitive and unprosperous. The Muslim population in India was 13 crore according to the 2001 census, while the entire population of Pakistan is 17 crore in 2010. The Hindu and Muslim alike share the idea of India and Pakistan is not a sub-patriotic option. In 1989, even an enlightened Socialist like George Fernandes declared, “Whether we want to admit it or not, most Indians consider Muslims a fifth column for Pakistan.” If the Congress really seeks the empowerment of the Indian Muslim, a Uniform Civil Code is a must. The judiciary has made this clear. Politicians who question judicial activism may be reminded of Justice Bhagawati’s words, “The judge is not a mimic. Greatness of the bench lies in creativity. It is for this reason that when a law comes before a judge he has to invest it with meaning and content.” The government must cease being creative with the meaning of secularism and stop mimicking the realities of 1947. Otherwise the parable of equality will remain unexplained to India.

The author is Executive Editor of this newspaper. ravi.shankar@expressbuzz.com

There is a report that a small hardcore paid agents of Karunanidhi burnt an effigy of Dr.Subramanian Swamy. This the way Karunanidhi reacts to Dr.Swamy seeking permission from the Governor to prosecute the Chief Minister Karunanidhi.

Karunanidhi knew from day one over sixty years ago that the Brahmins are the repository of Dharma and would haunt him. As the modern asura who venerates Ravana he joined E.Ve.Ra. and persecuted the Brahmins. His conviction was that if you destroy Brahmins then Dharma can be conquered. So as Chief Minister he saw to it that the Brahmins are denied education and employment in his secular domain. He did his very best to get the Brahmins out of Tamilnadu.

Somehow despite all his efforts Brahmins could not be thrown out. They have survived. They have already given birth to a Narasimha who is going to tear this asura apart into pieces!

Karuna! burning effigies don’t destroy Dr.Swamy! If you try to touch him the people will lynch your clan in the streets of Madras!

When you, the secularists break Varnasrama Dharma you don’t know what kind of Pandora’s box you are opening. Brahmins started entering the domains of Kshathriya, Vaisya and Sudhra and as intellectual giants as they are they excelled in all these fields and became their leaders. For example the leaders of the athiest communists in West Bengal and Kerala are Brahmins! P.Ramamurthy of Tamilnadu and EMS Namboodhiripad of Kerala set off the powerful CPM and its labour outfit CITU. Today in West Bengal the CM and the leader of opposition are Brahmins. Under their secular outfit the state has gone to dogs and the Muslims are taking over.

In Tamilnadu the chitadel of reservations the Brahmins were consciously kept away from entering the fields of the Kshathriyas, Vaisyas and Sudhras for fear they would excel and become leaders in those fields even though they would become secular (not Dharmishtas). It is just not a blind anti-Brahminism but clear innate fear that Dharma lurks in them and would assert its way one day! Karuna! You are damn right on that score!

First you believed in the number game and as it began to wane you believed in the bribe game and EVM fraud game. But to this Parasurama of one man army your intelligence is infinitesimally small and your army is a paper tiger!

Karuna! Your end is near and no God can help you for you despised them all anyway! There is no escape! You can run but you cannot hide!

This Parasurama awaits you in every corner you turn! So lose your sleep and have nightmares!!

Earth, in which lie the sea, the river, and other waters,
in which food and cornfields have come to be,
in which live all that breathes and that moves,
may she confer on us the finest of her yield….

Set me, O Earth, amidst what is thy center and thy navel,
and vitalizing forces that emanate from thy body.
Purify us from all sides. Earth is my Mother; her son am I;
and Heaven my Father: may he fill us with plenty….
Atharva Veda 12.1

Sri Kamal Kumar Swami of Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi, Sri D. R Narendra of TTD Parirakshana Samithi, and Narra Munichandra and A. Subramnayam of Praja Front toured, studied and inspected the practice of plastics disposal on the Seven Hills of Tirumala, where the most sacred Lord Venkateshwara Temple is located. Following their inspection, realizing the damage the disposal of plastics is causing to the seven hills, earth, water, air, trees, health of the devotees and ecological imbalance, they submitted a ten-page report with all the details of their investigation to the Executive Officer of TTD along with a number of recommendations.

As a way of background we want to inform that about 4 years ago TTD has given a contract to Mohindra and Mohindra Company to dispose of all the plastics either by recycling certain types of plastics or dispose of all non-recyclable plastics in a manner that would not affect the ecology of Seven Hills. Also the company agreed to process the biodegradable items so that the manure can be used as fertilizers. According to the three NGOs mentioned above, the company employed hundreds of people to collect all the water bottled, plastic bags and other items going around the hills. According to the contract no payment will be made to the Company. The company did it as voluntary service to the Temple. The Company used to take all the plastics from all the hills and take them out without leaving any wastage on the hills. In fact they used incur loss in this operation.

After Sri Adikesavulu Naidu was appointed as Chairman of Trust Board of TTD, he cancelled the contract with Mohindra and Mohindra Company and gave it to one of his benefactor by the name Kiran Royal. Instead of employing people to collect all the plastics, Kiran Royal is using the TTD employees to collect the plastics making TTD to incur several lakhs of rupees every month. He also stopped collecting biodegradable items leaving them on the hills as an eyesore for the pilgrims. Further, instead of taking plastic wastage away from the hills and dispose them properly, he was piling up all the wastage on the hills. These NGO leaders also noticed the employees of TTD burning the plastic wastage on the hills causing thick smoke covering the hills area. They also felt the pungent smell of the burning of these plastics. During rainy season, the residues of the burned plastic waste are going to spread around and down the hills affecting the trees, plants, rivers and the water causing untold damage to the ecological serenity of the hills.

On February 4, 2011 the three NGOs submitted a detailed report to EO of TTD who was very sympathetic to their study and their recommendations to alleviate the disposal problem. He agreed with their assessment and promised to look into a permanent solution to the issue. Since the submission of the report, EO inspected the disposal practices to take proper action.

Below you will see the article published in the Hindu on February 8, 2011

Why should we care about it? What our Vedas say about the Ecology

All our scriptures such as Vedas, Upanishad, Puranas, and Itihasas including Bhagavad Gita emphasized the importance and significance of the ecological balance among the Maha Panchabhutas – the earth, the air, the fire, the water and the sky. In fact the whole universe is made up of these five elements. It means that every living and nonliving creature is made up of these elements. Upanishadic statement embodies this belief: sarvam khalvidam Brahmasi – Every thing in Brahman.

Hindus believe that there is divinity in every aspect of the universe. Nature itself is divine. All the components of the Nature are the manifestations of the Divine. One cannot separate one from the other. They are the two aspects of the Supreme. Hindus perceive divinity in the human being, animals, trees, rocks, mountains, water, snake, dust particle and every thing that is seen and unseen. Many Hindu temples have manifestations of the Divine in the form of Human forms, animal forms, both animal and human forms combined as well as formless.

The Earth

Atharva Veda says that “The Earth is mother, the Heavens are father.” For Hindus Earth is sacred and call her Bhumata, Bhudevi – Goddess Mother. Hindus revere the Earth for her tolerance, forbearance, patience and serenity. The Vedic Hymn to the Earth, the Prithvi Sukta in Atharva Veda, is undeniably the most all-compassing holistic hymn ever written about the interdependence of the panchabhutas. The Vedic seer solemnly talked about the continuing, steady and balanced filial allegiance of humankind to Mother Earth: ‘Mata Bhumih Putroham Prithivyah: Earth is my mother, I am her son.’ Mother Earth is respected, revered and celebrated for all her storehouse of natural resources and particularly for her gifts of herbs and vegetation.

A provocative, enduring and everlasting hymn known Prithvi Sukti describing the Goddess Earth was found in Atharva Veda with 63 verses. She is described as Vasudha for possessing wealth, Hiranyavaksha for having gold bosom, Jagato Niveshini for being the abode of the whole universe, Visvambara being representative of the universe and others. She is described as providing food and prosperity; sustaining the animal world; proving space for lakes, rivers and oceans; and supporting the herbs, trees, and mountains. She is described as holding Agni, as geothermal field as well as geomagnetic field. One should refrain from any and all efforts to damage its natural environment and deplete the natural resources to bring the untold calamity to the cosmos.

The Water

In all the scripture Water is given a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. Water is considered the first element of Panchabhutas. Rig Veda says that “in the beginning, all was water, and there was darkness which engulfed it.” (Book X, Hymn 129, verse3). In fact Atharva Veda (XIX; hymn 2:1-2) gives very significant place to water:

“May the waters from the snowy mountains bring health and peace to all people. May the spring waters bring calm to you. May the swift current be pleasing to you; and may the rains be a source of tranquility to all. May the waters of oasis in desert be sweet to you; and so be the waters of ponds and lakes. May the waters from the wells dug by humans be good to them, and may the healing powers of water be available to all beings.”

All Hindus, especially rivers, consider water sacred and there are seven sacred rivers, namely the Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. In fact the river Ganges is personified as a goddess, while Saraswati River has been referred to as goddess in Vedas. Although Hinduism encompasses so many different beliefs among those that most Hindus do share is the importance of striving to attain purity and avoiding pollution. This relates to both physical cleanliness and spiritual well being.

The nature of water described is described in Rig-Veda as follows:

‘The waters which are from heaven
and which flow after being dug,
and even those that spring by themselves,
the bright pure waters which lead to the sea,
may those divine waters protect me here’.

Rig Veda also described different forms of water; rain water, natural spring, wells and canals, lakes and rivers. It is considered the source of healthy living and source of joy. Without water life cannot be sustained in human beings, animals, vegetation, insects, worms, and birds. Water is considered sacred and nectar. Water should remain pure and unpolluted if we have to get the benefit of medicinal, spiritual and cleansing value. The Padma Purana condemns the pollution of water by saying “the person who pollutes water ponds, wells or lakes goes to hell.”

Almost all the holy places are located on the banks of rivers, coasts, seashores and mountains. For Hindus, morning cleansing with water is a basic obligation. Water is used for all our worship services in the Temple including abhishekam. Water charged with chanting of Mantras is distributed as Teertha. Traditionally tarpana is offered back into the river reciting mantras. Every temple has a pond near it and devotees are supposed to take a bath or wash feet before entering the temple.

What Should TTD do to bring harmony among Panchabhutas?

Improper disposal of plastic waste is going to affect the natural resources on the seven hills, natural habitat, ravines and lakes, trees, herbal plants and animals. If the burning of the plastic waste is not discontinued, pollution of the hills will imbalance the panchabhutas thus creating health hazards to the pilgrims and damaging the serenity and sacredness of the Abode of Lord Venkateshwara. Ecological calamity will ensue if the nature is exploited and misused. For the sake of future generations and to maintain the ecological balance, TTD should take immediate steps to stop the dumping ad burning of plastic waste. There is a great danger that future generations will not know the natural habitat of animals; they may not know the forests and the animals, which we of this generation know to be in danger of extinction.

TTD should also take up a challenge to educate all Hindus about the need, importance and significance of the balancing the ecology. TTD should have world-class auditorium where people can learn about the history of the Temples, significance of the Temples and the need to preserve ecological balance to live a peaceful life. Centuries of total neglect in the transmission of knowledge about the significance of panchabhutas, lack of knowledge about the inter-relationship among them, paucity of appreciation for maintaining harmony among them, and the absence of governmental willingness to preserve the nature that supports the cosmos, are the main reasons for lack appreciation among the present day Hindus. Ecological principles and sacredness of Nature should be instilled among Hindus and others from the childhood at homes, schools, civic centers, Temples, religious organizations and NGOs. Once we protect the Nature, the Nature will protect the humanity. All of us have the responsibility of preserving the bounties of Earth, which harbor the plants, trees herbs, minerals, lakes, oceans, mountains, humans, and animals. They have coexisted for centuries.

Conduct Yagnas and Homas

TTD being the symbol of sacredness and spirituality, upholder of Dharmic way of life, preserver of Hindu customs and traditions, supporter of Hindu culture and arts, instiller of spirituality among Hindus, and propagator of Hindu faith across the globe should strive to establish harmony among all panchabhutas.

Need to devise a plan to conduct Maha Yagnas across the country to balance the panchabhutas, purify the atmosphere, clean the water, preserve the vegetation, and create positive vibrations among people.

Also Homas should be conducted at all TTD Kalyana Mandapams across India on a regular basis to purify the universe and sow the seeds of peace and joy.

Conclusion

Let us conclude with the following Shanti Mantra

We invoke and imbibe Aum, the primordial sound ofcosmic Harmony and pray for:Peace and Harmony in Heaven;Peace and Harmony in the Sky and on the Earth;Peace and Harmony in the Waters;Peace and Harmony in the Herbs, the Vegetation and the Forests;Peace and Harmony among thePeoples and the Rulers of the World;Peace and Harmony in Spiritual Quest and Realization;Peace and Harmony for one and all;Peace and Harmony Everywhere and in Every Thing;Peace, True and Real Peace,Let that Peace repose in my inner space,Peace of Peace, Everlasting Peace,We pray for Peace.

Donations

We need your assistance to continue our mission of abolishing Endowment Act and free Temples from the government control. If we have to make an impact on our movement to bring changes to preserve our culture, we need you financial support. Your generous donations to continue our efforts to free Hindu Temples from government control, awaken the Hindus about the plight of Hindu Temples and the impending danger of illegal conversion techniques are essential. We are requesting all the individuals and organizations to support financially to continue our movement to free Hindu Temples from the government control and stop these conversions.

End of the Year is fast approaching. Please DONATE. Your donations are appreciated to continue the work.

NOTE: GHHF is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 ( c ) 3 of the Internal Revenue code.

The Hindu American Foundation’s pretentious, cut-and-paste document on what this malevolent group terms ‘caste-based discrimination and birth-based hierarchy’ has mercilessly exposed several self-important Hindus and Hindu groups in the US and in India.

It also exposed yet again those Hindus at home, scholars and their satellites, who insist on playing at politics without the mandatory political sense which would demarcate the line that PIO Hindus and globe-trotting sanyasis may not cross on issues which define Hinduism; issues which today belong in the domain of international politics of religion and which, if allowed to be raised by foreign entities even if they are PIO Hindus, challenge Hindu sovereignty on Hindu bhumi. One particular scholar and his satellites tried frantically to get HAF to see reason and withdraw the report, predictably with no success.

The HAF report has once again brought to the fore the writer’s contention that there are foreseen and unforeseen consequences to Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s continuing involvement as Convener Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha (HDAS) with foreign agencies, including politically ambitious PIO Hindus, religious leaders of Abrahamic faiths including Patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Jewish Rabbis, and international bodies like the UN.

Such interactions and reaching out to other faiths and religions in themselves are desirable and have been undertaken in the past; what is cause for serious concern is that Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati participated in these exchanges as Convener Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha on foreign soil. This august body which comprises Hindu religious leaders heading ancient peethams and sampradayas is by definition inward looking and communicates with non-Hindu and non-Indian religions only on Indian soil, and only when these religions seek their audience, or in times of extraordinary crisis.

The little understood, well-hidden motive of these foreign entities in inviting Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati to conferences between leaders of Hindu religion and non-Hindu and non-Indian monotheist religions is to only to draw the HDAS into these international discussions with a view to making resolutions and declarations signed at these conferences, binding upon all acharyas and dharmagurus of the HDAS, and by extension, on all Hindus.

Ironically, the very same PIO Hindus who first persuaded Pujya Swamiji to undertake these international missions on behalf of the HDAS, and those scholarly Hindus who attempted, through foolish, counter-productive slander and cut-and-paste dossiers on foreign websites like Medha Journal and Sulekha, to silence this writer’s apprehensions and critique of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati needlessly dragging the HDAS into international politics of religion, are today expressing harsh criticism against the HAF for doing the same; partly because the report is shoddy and evil-intended, but partly because HAF is now (undeservedly) competing with these reputed and established scholars for recognition as a preeminent American Hindu intellectual group.

Not surprisingly there is deafening silence from the movers and shakers behind the Global Foundation for Civilisational Harmony who gave the first push which carried the HDAS into this quicksand. There is only sadness that the writer’s apprehensions about how because of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s international missions as Convener HDAS, the HDAS may be misused by vested interests at home and abroad have been proved right.

The HAF report on “caste” is an attempt by a section of American Hindus to engage with foreign powers and their agents on issues which concern only Hindus in India; issues which these Hindus who have abandoned the Hindu bhumi do not have the right to raise or discuss combatively with Hindus at home; leave alone claim to represent or speak on behalf of Hindus with any alien government or foreign entity.

HAF’s PIO Hindus, if they really want to end the obnoxious practice of untouchability must first surrender their foreign passports, surrender their egos at the feet of any great mahatma or dharmaguru who is already working towards this end, must go live in our villages among the victims of untouchability and among the village people, build bridges between them and bring about the change they desire by dedicating their life to achieving at least some measure of success. That is the Hindu way and the way of Amritlal Thakkar (Bapa), Acharya Vinobha Bhave and Baba Amte. It is not for Christmas-time Hindus coming to India for 10 days every two years to hector us about our customs and tradition.

Hindu nationalists will castigate in the most unsparing and harshest possible language HAF or any other foreign group which intends to raise the issue of untouchability or any other issue with us, or with the Indian government, or with the seamless network comprising US, UK, EU and the UN. The borderless entity comprising the US, UK, EU and UN have declared these issues to be legitimate reasons for interfering in the domestic affairs of any country on grounds of humanitarian intervention.

The western world has repeatedly used these issues as instruments of their foreign policy against target nations and peoples to serve their geo-strategic objectives, culminating either in forcible regime change or installing a puppet regime through a bogus democratic process. The EU and individual countries of Europe, even as this column is being written, is camped in Delhi awaiting government permission to watch the trial of Dr. Binayak Sen whom they describe as a ‘human rights defender’; and such is the potential of the human rights industry to catapult non-entities and rank opportunists into national limelight that one enterprising Supreme Court advocate declared in a prime time newsroom discussion that corruption was a human rights issue.

India’s secular intellectuals have not even whimpered in protest, only because they do not perceive this brazen interference in our internal affairs as an affront to our collective dignity and a challenge to national sovereignty. Instances of such watchdog interference by the US, UN and EU into India’s strictly internal affairs have increased in the regime of the Roman Catholic Italian Sonia-led Congress-led UPA government. Similar watchdog inspection teams from Europe, EU and the US, in the guise of monitoring India’s commitment to protect human rights, pluralism and freedom of religion have now been allowed to visit areas under the murderous stranglehold of Christian terrorist insurgencies in the North-east, Mao-Christian insurgencies in the red belt including Kandhamal, and Jihadi terrorism in J&K.

Beginning with these intrusive visits, whether the intent by these bodies is to keep Hindus in a continuing state of political disempowerment, attempting regime change as they did in 2004, or installing puppet regimes as the incumbent government which came to power in 2009, the end result is that the native political paradigm and attendant social arrangements are sought to be altered, and reasserting India’s Hindu face and ethos in the polity are sought to be curtailed and repressed, to fall in line with Christian political principles.

Moves are already afoot to equate our varna, jaati, and kulavyavastha with Abrahamic caste and racism moving in the direction of forcing Hindu majority India to give up its native social arrangements and time-tested customs and tradition; this move is necessary if India has to be pushed in the direction of post-Hindu India, a delusion that is already being discussed seriously in some circles. This is typical of Abrahamic ‘give a dog a bad name and kill it’ tactic to weaken and then remove the enemy and HAF has accepted to play the role of useful idiot in this long-term and far-sighted Abrahamic mission.

HAF has made common cause with Hinduism’s enemies and has drafted this eminently unreadable caste report which is certain to be used as a weapon against us if only because it has been authored by people who claim to be Hindus, and Dollar Hindus at that. Not that the threat will impress Hindu nationalists or our traditional mathathipathis and dharmagurus of ancient sampradayas; HAF and the agencies that HAF seeks to influence will sooner than later realize that Hindu India will not be pressured or coerced by any outside agency, least of all American and other PIO Hindus who sneak into this country in the dark, riding the human rights horse, to redefine Hindu dharma simply to gain acceptance in White Christian circles and fulfill their political ambitions in the US or UK.

Taking a leaf out of HAF and the older Indian Muslim Council USA, a new PIO group, whose religious affiliation and economic ideological orientation is yet unclear, calling itself Save India from Corruption, has issued a clarion call to the world (!) to hold support rallies in Los Angeles, Washington DC, and New York, on 29 and 30 January, 2011. It is now clear that India will be saved as always only by the white man carrying the burden for us; this time around he will first depute dark-white expat Hindus and Muslims to prepare the ground for pious humanitarian intervention.

Ironically, military invasion and occupation of countries including Serbia and Iraq and the genocidal, 13-year-long total economic blockade against the people of Iraq was also sanctioned by the UN in the guise of humanitarian intervention. Humanitarian intervention in the name of human rights can mean anything that America and its allies want it to mean, and the UN has so far demonstrated that it has no other option but to go along with whatever the US wants in shaping the world to an order where America remains the only pole, while the rest of the world is divided broadly into vassal states, slave states and enemy states.

There is no scope for neutrality in this US-crafted world order, and Hindu organizations are yet to realize that they cannot protect the Hindu nation and Hindus without sound knowledge of geo-politics and politics of religion and without active and even combative involvement in national politics. Scholars like Dr. Kalyanaraman who as conscience keepers of Hindus insist on stirring with their big toe the quagmire of politics of religion without the pre-requisite sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’, have emboldened HAF to remain intractable on the issue of withdrawing the report in its entirety.

This scholar, by insisting that HAF heed Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s advise to remove the report from the HAF website and to go in for “wider consultations” before publishing the final report, has unfortunately sent the signal that Hindus here will acknowledge HAF’s right to author such a document as long as they have Pujya Swamiji’s sanction to undertake this exercise – sanction which Swami Dayananda Saraswati gave HAF not in his individual capacity but as Convener HDAS.

When Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati issued a statement “of support and endorsement” as HAF put it, in May 2010, using the very words caste-based discrimination and birth-based hierarchy on behalf of the HDAS, it became an important testimonial to the bona fide of HAF to author the report; but the fact remains that Pujya Swamiji had not placed the report before the HDAS nor sought HDAS mandate to issue the statement.

Pujya Swamiji therefore erred in asking HAF to merely remove the report from the website, which gave HAF the time, the elbow room and the excuse to publish it again after going through the motions of “due consultations’ with other PIO Hindus; instead, Pujya Swamiji ought to have asked HAF to remove his statement on “caste-based discrimination” and “birth-based hierarchy” which he had issued as Convener HDAS, not only from the HAF website but also from the report.

When Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati advised HAF to go in for more consultations and when Dr. Kalyanaraman insisted that HAF should heed Pujya Swamji’s advice to seek the views of other Hindus, rewrite the report and then publish it again, neither Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati nor Dr. Kalyanaraman had been authorized by member acharyas and dharmagurus in the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha to speak on their behalf on this issue.

It needs to be emphasized that while HAF has removed the report from their website, the statements issued by sundry Hindu religious leaders, including the one by Swami Dayananda Saraswati as Convener HDAS, have not been removed.

In the eye of HAF’s simulated storm over the caste report is Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a much sought after religious leader among PIO Hindus in the US. Several groups of PIO Hindus have emerged as the Hindu intellectual face in America; while some among them like HAF and CAPEEM are merely Hindu advocacy groups dabbling in human rights and the content of history text books in America, some others like WAVES organize annual seminars and conferences and invite Hindus from around the world to present papers on aspects of our dharma and dharmic heritage, customs and traditions.

Every PIO Hindu group in America, with access to Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati wants the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha to take up their pet cause or personal agendas. US Hindu Alliance (USHA) while strongly opposing the HAF report on caste, in their statement issued on 3 January 2011, nevertheless wants to use Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati as entry point to push the American or White Christian political talking points into the HDAS –

In September of this year, I, Kanchan Banerjee and Maheshbhai Mehta went to meet Swamiji to discuss certain issues. One of the issues discussed was the need to articulate a Hindu view on controversial issues ranging from homosexuality and surrogacy to euthanasia and caste.

In recent years some of these Hindu groups have jostled for space in the US to emerge as the voice of Hindus in America, in the fond hope that the American political establishment and other international bodies will engage with them on all things Hindu. Inevitably, considering the formidable resilience of the American Political Glass Ceiling against the clamoring hordes of non-White, non-Christian and non-Male political aspirants knocking on the glass, politically ambitious PIO Hindus turned to interfering in the internal affairs of Hindus in India.

The soaring objective now is to emerge as the Voice of Hindus in India by cultivating and then working through the good offices of globe-trotting religious leaders in their interactions with important international bodies. Global Foundation for Civilizational Harmony, HDAS, and now the newly-formed Vivekananda International are emerging as facilitating bodies for such collaboration between some Hindus here and PIO Hindus abroad; collaborations with the objective of engaging in global politics. The same group of collaborative Hindus operates in and with these organizations, but in a tightly closed circle comprising fewer than five individuals.

Conscious of the immense potential of the global human rights industry, and the immense potential of India’s ‘caste’ arrangement to attract the attention of powerful White Christians, the HAF, one such politically ambitious PIO Hindu body, has now metamorphosed into a human rights advocacy group, with no nobler intent than using India’s varna, jaati and kulavyavastha as entry card to be allowed to sit as Hindu Americans at the foot of the high table of global politics.

HAF solicited this invitation to the global White Christian high table by coining the catchy phrases “caste-based discrimination” and “birth-based hierarchy” which they have so far not dared to explain, describe or define. These phrases lay at the very core of the HAF report, but HAF is unable to reply to pointed questions by the writer if these phrases mean untouchability or something else. If it is something else, HAF has so far not cared or dared to tell us what it is.

The issue of locus standi or adhikara was raised in the course of the heated debate on the HAF report, but was not pursued with intellectual rigor to a definitive understanding. The objections that were first raised by Hindu nationalists to the HAF caste report are not only on grounds of ignorance or worse, downright villainy in misrepresenting our traditions, but also on grounds of adhikara.

HAF has deservedly been condemned for violating two of Hinduism’s core principles –

– The end purpose of any thought or action must always be to serve the larger interest of the society on whose behalf we claim to speak and act

– Taking along with us as many sections of society when we are thinking and acting towards an objective

Let us look at the issue of adhikara or moral authority vested in different sections of society to raise or discuss –

This is the last sutra from Aapastamba Dharmasutra and it translates as –

From women [and from] people of all varnas the rest of the dharmas [are to be known. So say some, so say some]. [1]

HAF had the impertinence to ask our Acharyas and Dharmagurus to discard those teachings and texts which HAF thought was not in line with what the US, EU and UN-defined human rights charter. Accordingly, one of them declared that Manu Smriti was not ‘Hinduism when practiced genuinely’ and besides, this person claimed, no one, not even he, had read the Manu Smriti. Neither Manu nor Aapastamba cooked these sutras in their brain as original fiction. They, among many others, merely codified into sutras and crisp principles, dharma as it as practiced in the society of their times.

But what is of astoundingly great importance in the sutra quoted above is the unique-to-Hinduism dharma in practice – that authority was wide-spread across Hindu society and the right to speak authoritatively on dharma was not restricted, like in the Abrahamic religions, to the Pope, Archbishop, Patriarch or the Maulvi.

After the brilliant exposition which codified dharma of the times, Aapastamba concluded with the sutra quoted above which can be expanded to mean that it is not possible for one individual or one generation to say everything about dharma; whatever else needs to be known, whatever has not been touched upon in this work, and whenever questions arise in every yuga and in different times within that yuga, about what is correct conduct or what is dharma, we should ask the women in our society to tell us what is dharma, we should ask the wise people in all varnas to tell us what is dharma and what is correct action.

This is the Hindu way, this is dharma in action, and this is how our Acharyas, mahatmas and all wise men counselled Hindus. Every varna and all jaatis within a varna and all women had their unique place in Hindu society, a place that was inviolable in dharma and which could not be usurped or taken away from any Hindu without attracting the severest strictures from the elders in society.

When a society moved away from the path of dharma, the knower of dharma would work patiently within that society to bring about the desired change through persuasion, through leading by example and living an exemplary life. Changes to customs and tradition were never sought to be implemented by force or by external agents or by those who did not belong to that society. When, in the rarest of rare cases, changes to customs had to be made by an external agent, then he or she had to be a mahatma or a wise person. Our Ithihaasas and Puranas are narratives of such mahatmas and the life of our saints and rishis are also testimony to how Hindu society has always functioned.

HAF has failed and failed thoroughly to prove its Hindu credentials because –

– The report on caste that it has authored does not serve the larger cause, is not in the larger interest

– HAF did not attempt to take different sections of PIO Hindu groups and individuals before starting and during the process of writing the report

– HAF no longer belongs to the bhumi or society it is seeking to change; therefore Hindus on Hindu bhumi dismiss the report has being brazen interference, tainted by White Christian influence in our internal affairs and deny them any authority to speak to us or address us on this or any other issue

HAF therefore lacks the competence, the moral authority and the stature to write this report. Above all, it has demonstrated that it is not accountable to any authority in the community on whose behalf it has arrogated to itself the right to speak and act. Hindus on Hindu bhumi, Hindu nationalists and right-thinking Hindus in every corner of the earth denounce this report as being worthless and unworthy of those that call themselves Hindus.

If HAF fails to heed the voices of caution and good sense, it cannot protect itself from charges of villainy, evil intent and rank opportunism.

Notes

[1] Text of Aapastamba Dharmasuutra (AP) based upon Buhler’s Edition (Bombay Sanskrit Series Nos. LIV and L), 3rd ed. 1932. Variant reading is in parenthesis after the end of each sutra, according to Kashi Sanskrit Series No.93 (K) edited by A. Chinnaswami, Benares 1932.

The judgment of the First Bench of the Kerala High Court on my Writ Petition opposing the setting up of an Islamic financial institution in the State of Kerala is a googly that appears to have clean bowled the media.

In the judgment it is stated that there is nothing wrong with an Islamic financial institution provided it is within the laws of the country. This was in fact my contention too. The Banking Regulations Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act specifically bars the setting up of a Sharia compliant Islamic banking or non-banking institution. This is also confirmed by the affidavit filed, both by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India, in reply to my Writ Petition. The Reserve Bank in fact disclosed that they had cancelled licences of several institutions which had not disclosed that they were practicing Sharia law in the financial transactions of their institution. The High Court thus held my Petition as unnecessary and dismissed it.

The High Court has held that it is not unconstitutional for the Government to partake any business activity through religion based institutions provided they are within the existing laws of the country. Hence, the media headlines that the Kerala High Court had given clearance to setting up of Sharia compliant Islamic financial institution is wrong. No such clearance has been given.

The only way a Sharia compliant Islamic financial institution can be set up in India is if the Parliament amends the existing laws, namely, Banking Regulations Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act. This must be opposed tooth and nail by the Opposition as anti secular. As of now, it is illegal to set up a Sharia compliant Islamic Bank in India.